+++SOURCE: Syria Report 19 Nov.’12:”DSE Falls below 800 Mark and Elects New
Board”
SUBJECT: Syrian stock exchange trading remains limited
TEXT:Syria’s stock exchange index fell for the first time below the 800 mark
last week as trading continued to remain limited to a handful of stocks.

+++SOURCE: Syria Report 19 Nov.’12:”Traffic Declines 27 Percent at Tartous
Port”
TEXT:The volume of freight in Tartous Port declined some 27 percent in the
first ten months of the year, according to estimates from the Ministry of
Transport.

+++Egyptian Gazette 19 Nov.12:”Erdogan’s enthusiastic visit to Cairo “by
Salwa Samir
SUBJECT: Turkey’s Erdogen enthusiasticly welcomed in Cairo
QUOTE:”loan agreement worth $1 billion with Ankara
FULL TEXT:CAIRO - Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has said on Sunday[18
Nov.] that "mutual benefit" is the only way to maintain the country's
bilateral relations with Turkey, expressing gratitude to Ankara for
supporting Egypt's January 25 Revolution.
"This support has not only been emotional, but also financial," Qandil said,
referring to a loan agreement worth $1 billion with Ankara, signed during
President Mohammed Morsi's visit to the Turkey in September.
Attending the Egyptian-Turkish business forum in Cairo on Sunday[18 Nov.]
with his visiting Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyeb Erdogan, Qandil said
that Turkey had offered Egypt a credit line worth $1 billion.
Last week, the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that
Ankara had offered Cairo $500 million. Erdogan said on Sunday[28 Nov.] that
the other $500 million will be delivered by early next year.
Erdogan arrived in Cairo on Saturday[17 Nov.] on a two-day visit. On the
first day, he delivered a public speech at Cairo University and also had
talks with President Morsi.
As he appeared onstage, hundreds of Egyptian attendees began to applaud and
chant slogans of welcome, reflecting their love and respect for the Turkish
Premier.
The phrases 'Masr wa Turkiya Eed Wahda’ (Egypt and Turkey are one hand) and
‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great) rocked the Grand Festival Hall at Cairo
University, founded in 1908, where Erdogan gave his speech.
US President Barack Obama gave his famous speech 'A New Beginning', in the
same university in June 2009.
"I congratulate you, the youth, for your revolution. The hearts of the
Turkish people were with you during those days. We will stand by you today
and tomorrow, based on our historical relations," Erdogan told the
attendees.
Then he recited a verse from the Holy Qur'an in Arabic, which reads in
English: "So do not weaken or do not grieve, and you will be superior if you
are true believers." (Al-Emran, verse 139).
"We in Turkey and you and other nations should remember this and keep it in
our hearts and minds," he said, adding a popular slogan which Egyptians
chanted proudly during the revolution, "Raise your head high, you are
Egyptian."
After he’d uttered the slogan in Arabic, all the attendees repeated it
loudly and enthusiastically.
During his visit, Erdogan signed 27 agreements covering various fields
including tourism, culture and trade.
He was accompanied by ten ministers and 350 businessmen, who on Sunday[18
Nov.] met with their Egyptian counterparts working in the fields of
construction and contracting, machinery, cement, iron and steel, chemicals,
wood and forestry products, mining, electricity, durable consumer goods,
cosmetic products, readymade clothing, textiles, finance, cars, LPG and
petroleum, minerals, flour, olives and olive oil, dried fruits, electronic
systems, carpets, foodstuffs, transportation, tourism and hotels.
"Turkey and Egypt are strong countries in the region. We insist on
supporting Egypt. We will together guarantee peace in the region," he
stressed.
Erdogan talked to the audience about the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. He
described the Egyptian revolution as a glimmer of hope, not just for
Egyptians themselves but for Palestinians too.
He praised President Morsi for recalling the Egyptian Ambassador from Tel
Aviv, in response to Israel's attacks.
At the end of his speech, he referred again to the Egyptian youth and their
role in developing the country. "We put our hope and trust in you. You are
the future of Egypt," he said.
Then he and the President of Cairo University exchanged mementoes, to yet
more tumultuous applause.

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 19 Nov.’12:”Fatah, Hamas Agree to Unite over
Gaza Crisis”,Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Fatah-Hamas unite over Gaza crisis
QUOTE:” ‘From here,we announce with other (factional) leaders, that we are
ending the division’,senior Fatah official”
FULL TEXT: Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas said on Monday[19
Nov.] they have decided to end infighting in a show of solidarity in the
West Bank over the Gaza crisis, an AFP reporter said.
"From here, we announce with other (factional) leaders, that we are ending
the division," senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub told a crowd of about
1,000 who gathered for a demonstration in Ramallah, the West Bank's
political capital.
Among those present at the rally were top members of Hamas's leadership in
the West Bank as well as senior officials from its smaller rival Islamic
Jihad, the AFP correspondent said.
Ramallah's Manara Square was a sea of Palestinian flags as the crowd chanted
"Unity!" and "Hit, hit Tel Aviv" in an appeal to Hamas militants who have
fired at least five rockets at the coastal city since Thursday.
"Whoever speaks about the division after today is a criminal," top Hamas
leader Mahmud al-Ramahi told the crowd.
Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian national factions, have been
locked in a bitter dispute for years.
But the ongoing bloodshed in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where Israel was on
Monday [19 Nov.] pressing a sixth day of a major aerial campaign which has
so far killed 91 Palestinians, appears to have prompted a rethink of
traditional rivalries.
Gaza's Hamas-run government has long been at loggerheads with the rival
Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and a unity deal
struck between the two in April 2011, fell apart as the two bickered over
the formation of a caretaker cabinet

FULL TEXT:Security forces discovered on Monday[19 Nov.] rockets in southern
Lebanon that were prepared to be launched against Israel, reported MTV.

It said that two Katyusha rockets were found between the towns of Halta and
Wadi Khansa in the Rashayya al-Fakhar region.

Al-Mayadeen television reported that the rockets were located in the town of
al-Mari in the Marjeyoun region.

The National News Agency later reported that two Grad rockets were found in
the outskirts of al-Mari.

Members of the Lebanese army soon arrived at the scene to dismantle the
rockets.

"The Lebanese army found two 107 mm Grad rockets, ready to be fired in the
direction of Israel, in the southeastern town of Halta three kilometers (two
miles) from the border," a military source told AFP.

The army "immediately began defusing them and prevented access to the area,"
he added.

The development comes at a time when Israel launched last week an assault
against the Gaza Strip that has left over 90 Palestinians and three Israeli
dead.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had stated last week that the party
supports Gaza during its plight, calling on Arab countries to pressure
western powers to halt the Israeli operation.

FULL TEXT:WASHINGTON — Leading Republican Senator John McCain suggested
Sunday[18 Nov.] that President Barack Obama should send Bill Clinton as a
special envoy to try to negotiate peace between Israel and Hamas.

“The United States should obviously be as heavily influential as they can,”
McCain told CBS television, referring to the bloody conflict that has raged
since Wednesday[14 Nov.] between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Islamist
rulers.

The Arizona Republican, who lost his 2008 presidential bid to Obama, sang
the praises of Clinton, a Democrat, as someone uniquely placed to try to
broker a truce between the sworn enemies.

“I know he’d hate me for saying that but we need a person of enormous
prestige and influence to have these parties sit down together as an honest
broker,” said McCain.

“The United States of America has got to push as hard as we can to resolve
this Israeli-Palestinian issue.”

The escalating violence had already killed 67 Palestinians and three
Israelis after Israel launched nearly 100 hours of air strikes on Gaza in a
bid to stop rocket attacks from militants in the crowded coastal enclave.
[IMRA: After endless rockets fired on Israel]

Clinton made a major push for the Middle East peace process as he sought to
negotiate peace deals between Israel and Palestinians culminating with the
signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, though these did not end the conflict

FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Participants at a security forum on Friday[16 Nov]
announced the launch of the Arab Network for Eliminating Weapons of Mass
Destruction to be headed by the Arab Institute for Security Studies at the
University of Jordan.

The network, headquartered at the Arab League in Cairo, includes 12 research
centres to examine security developments in the region and improve Arab
countries’ efforts to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction
in the region, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Titled “Maintaining the Momentum and Supporting the Facilitator Prospects
for a Zone Free from Weapons of Mass Destruction and Nuclear Security in the
Middle East”, the forum brought together experts from different countries to
shed light on the repercussions of the Arab Spring on the region
==========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA